


A Fall From Grace - Part 1

by Allerim82



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:28:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21854803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allerim82/pseuds/Allerim82
Summary: An origin story for Nysk Allerim, a character on FFxiv - Mateus.





	A Fall From Grace - Part 1

Nysk pulled her cloak tightly around her and turned her shoulder to the wind. Courthas was bloody cold at the best of times, ankle and knee-deep snow everywhere you turned, but the wind…the wind was what made it unbearable. She felt like she may as well have not been wearing a cloak at all up on the battlements of Camp Dragonshead.

She was a White Mage, a practitioner of healing arts, though she did possess a few combat spells with which to defend herself. Try as she might she wasn’t very good in a fight on her own. The stone spell in her arsenal got her by, and while she had managed to get creative with it she was definitely not on par with most other adventurers and didn’t fair too well on her own. No, she was most at home supporting other adventurers and much preferred the company, and protection, they offered.

One such comrade of hers sent word of a task assigned him to assault Stone Vigil and requested her help. He was a good man, she’d worked with him before, and knew him to be capable. She agreed to meet him They’d met up not long before he set out from Camp Dragonshead and assured her he would be back before noon. That was five hours ago… She knew where he was going and knew the dangers he was walking into, and while it could have gone horribly wrong she was hoping he’d retired to Whitebrim Front to wait for her.

She quit the ramparts and their chilling winds, gathered her belongings, and set out on her chocobo for the settlement. Away from the biting wind and open air the climate wasn’t so bad. Cold, to be sure, but it didn’t feel like her soul was freezing in the wind. She wasn’t far beyond the bridge to Ishgard when her ears began to twitch, picking up the sound of … was that whimpering? Muffled cries? It was subtle, but whatever it was she was sure it sounded like someone distressed over the nearby hill, and she wasn’t about to leave anyone out in this cold!

The sounds grew louder as she neared the top of the hill and she could detect a slight rhythmic undercurrent to the cries. They were muffled, however, and she still couldn’t make sense of it. Then came the sounds of someone retching and coughing, as if they were choking. “I didn’t tell you to stop!” The voice rang clear in the evening air, a different voice. Deeper. Male. Then came the unmistakable smack of palm hitting face. No…it couldn’t be…  
Nysk crested the hill and looked down to the cliff. Sure enough, this was a scene to which nobody was meant to bear witness. An Elezan woman was on her knees and bent over, in the snow, hands bound behind her back, and drabbed in only scant rags. Her skin was turning blue in the cold and her face was red from her abuse. Not one but two men clad in mail armor, Ishgardian knights by the insignia on their armor and discarded shields, stood exposed on either side of her, or rather either end of her. Needless to say, this absolutely was not a romantic escapade, and it absolutely was not going to continue.

“Stop!” Nysk cried out, sliding part way down the hill in the snow. “Leave her alone, now!” The two knights looked up, one hanging free in front of the girl and the other still tucked away inside her. Their initial reaction was one of worry and panic, but upon seeing they’d be caught by someone not of Ishgard, they scoffed and laughed her off with a wave.

“Walk away girl. Be thankful she’s down here instead of you!” Having disregarded her they turned their attention back to their victim, the girl who’s every expression begged to be rescued. How could she just walk away from this and turn a blind eye? Was she supposed to pretend this wasn’t happening? How could she? She drew her staff and half-ran half-slid down the rest of the slope.  
“I said leave her alone! Or so help me I’ll toss you off the bridge myself.” Nysk was trying to look as intimidating as she could, but so many thoughts were going through her head so quickly it was hard to focus. She’d fought pirates and monsters and all sorts in between, but these were Ishgardian knights! They were supposed to be the good guys! And what of the aftermath? How was she going to explain all this? 

The knights paused and looked at Nysk, traded looks of disbelief between them, and then looked back at Nysk with a laugh. The one standing in front of the girl, still fully exposed, shrugged and offered a sarcastic smile. “Well then, if it’s going to come to that. You win.” He waved his companion off and tucked himself away. “I’ll set her free.” He turned back to the woman, now free from her captor’s advances. “Get up, girl. Come on now, the heroic cat doesn’t have all day, does she?”

The elezen staggered to her feet, distraught, terrified, and barely able to stand for the effects of the cold on her nearly bare body. Nysk dared, ignorantly, to relax and hope this might end well for a split second. The woman was over the edge and falling, her screams echoing as she fell through the sea of clouds, before Nysk had even processed what had happened. The bastard threw her off the cliff! Just like that! No warning, no threats, nothing at all. Just a quick shove and the girl stumbled back to her death. Nysk was dumbfounded. For what seemed like an eternity all she could do was stand and stare with her mouth agape.

The knight who was apparently in charge just laughed and shook his head at Nysk’s stunned silence. He collected his sword and shield and turned to the other, “Kill her. Toss her body over the cliff and get back to the barracks. We’re late as it is.” With that, he stomped off through the snow towards the bridge leaving his companion, sneering in her direction, to deal with their would-be captor.

“Wait!” she cried out. “You can’t just leave! Get back here!” The knight continued to trudge through the snow, ignoring her as if she didn’t exist. “Hey! I said—”  
“You have bigger problems, kitty cat.” The other knight had retrieved his sword and shield and was now advancing on her, intent to carry out his superior’s orders no doubt. With no other apparent recourse, she cast a quick renew on herself and set herself as if she would in any other fight. With a growl the knight set upon her and the battle commenced.

The fight didn’t last long. Nysk had a bit of high ground via the hill and she had an advantage in her regen and the range of her stone spell. Not to mention she learned on the fly she could use the earth beyond just hitting people with it; it was wonderful for throwing someone off balance or destabilizing the earth beneath their feet! The knight’s experience and skill were too much for her, though, and before she’d cast her fourth spell she found herself bloodied, on the ground, and at the edge of the cliff with the knight still advancing toward her, apparently intent on sending her to meet the girl she so desperately tried to save.

She struggled to her feet, leaning heavily on her staff, and regained her composure just as the knight reached her. His posture was relaxed and his advance unhurried, he had assured himself of victory and at this point was just having fun. He smiled and took a half-hearted swing at her, lazily toying with his prey. She managed to jump to the side to avoid the blow but stumbled, thanks to her received injuries. She turned as best she could and swung her staff wide, more to try to keep him at bay than hurt him. He stepped back deftly and scoffed, “You’re barely worth my time kitty…”.   
She was losing, badly, and they both knew it. Determined to at least die fighting she let loose with one last stone spell. It did little to impede the knight as he dodged to the side, but the wrong side as fate would have it. He sidestepped toward the cliff just as her spell burst forth from the ground. He avoided the spell well enough, but soon as the earth erupted a thunderous crack boomed from the cliff. They both froze with the realization of what just happened; her spells had been weakening the rock around cliff and it was finally giving way under the stress.

They both turned to run as the rock and snow crumbled from beneath their feet. She was able to jump and clear the collapsing ledge, barely, but the knight was too far. She rolled over and looked for her assailant, but he was gone. The only indication anyone was ever there was the scream echoing from the sea of clouds, slowly fading away.  
She collected herself and climbed back up the slope, half expecting to see the other knight. That would be just her luck. Fortunately for her he was nowhere in sight and she could only assume he’d retreated to Ishgard. Her thoughts wandered back to the girl, bound and bare in the snow, and how she was so badly violated. What could she have possibly done to deserve such treatment? She resolved to find out and set her course for the nearby holy fortress. Surely there was someone in that city who would see the bastard brought low...


End file.
